Monday, March 14, 2016

Islamic State’s Raid On Iraq’s Abu Ghraib

As the Islamic States loses more ground in Iraq it has
reverted to high profile terrorist attacks and raids to keep itself in the
headlines and promote an image of constant victory. One such operation was an
all day assault upon Abu Ghraib in western Baghdad province. The insurgents
seized several buildings, and successfully brought food back to Fallujah from
which the raid was launched.

Al
Mada talked with an Iraqi security source that gave a detailed breakdown of
the Abu Ghraib assault. The operation consisted of six Islamic State
detachments. It started at 5 am with five suicide bombers, three of which were
Saudis, and one Chinese on the 24th Brigade headquarters in Abu
Ghraib. Four of the bombers were killed, but the fifth reached its target
blowing a hole in the concrete barriers outside of the brigade’s base. The
second and third IS units with about 20 men then attacked supported by RPG fire
and two trucks with heavy cannons. IS was also able to occupy the Customs
Department building. While the attack upon the army base claimed the day’s
headlines it appeared that the target was actually a grain silo. As Mustafa
Habib reported in Niqash, the fighters were able to take grain back from
the silo to Fallujah, which was where the assault originated from. The Iraqi
forces eventually killed most of the attackers and drove the rest back to
Fallujah, while sustaining around 50 casualties themselves.

IS has lost the ability to seize more territory in Iraq, and
is launching Abu Ghraib type operations in response. Such raids gain
international headlines, and maintain the group’s image of always being on the
offensive and enduring the international coalition arrayed against it. This one
actually appeared successful. IS was able to get through the porous cordon around
Fallujah, attack Abu Ghraib, and bring grain back. The last was especially
important because there have been stories of starvation within Fallujah. The
Iraqi forces have surrounded that city for more than two years, and has an
operation to retake it going on right now, but didn’t appear to stop the IS
fighters getting in and out. More of these type of attacks and mass casualty
bombings can be expected in the future as IS is transitioning back to being
more of a terrorist/insurgent force as it loses more and more on the
battlefield.

Iraq History Timeline

About Me

Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the political, economic, security and cultural situation in Iraq via original articles and interviews. I have written for the Jamestown Foundation, Tom Ricks’ Best Defense at Foreign Policy and the Daily Beast, and was responsible for a chapter in the book Volatile Landscape: Iraq And Its Insurgent Movements. My work has been published in Iraq via NRT, AK News, Al-Mada, Sotaliraq, All Iraq News, and Ur News all in Iraq. I was interviewed on BBC Radio 5, Radio Sputnik, CCTV and TRT World News TV, and have appeared in CNN, the Christian Science Monitor, The National, Columbia Journalism Review, Mother Jones, PBS’ Frontline, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Institute for the Study of War, Radio Free Iraq, Rudaw, and others. I have also been cited in Iraq From war To A New Authoritarianism by Toby Dodge, Imagining the Nation Nationalism, Sectarianism and Socio-Political Conflict in Iraq by Harith al-Qarawee, ISIS Inside the Army of Terror by Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassahn, The Rise of the Islamic State by Patrick Cocburn, and others. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com